Buster was considered to be important evidence in the abuse case. He had sustained serious damage to his eyes from fighting, something he was forced to do under the conditions in which he lived. He has limited sight, and is covered with scars. Because of his loss of vision, this little ball of muscle and fear would strike out at anything he sensed coming near. Filling his food dish or water bowl was a daunting task for all but the most experienced bunny handlers.
For a long time he was known as "Angry Man," but a few brave volunteers began spending time with Buster, to try to get him used to being touched. After many months, they were rewarded with an occasional breakthrough, when Buster would actually let someone hold him.
We felt that the "Angry Man" title was a negative prophecy to burden this little guy with, so a volunteer renamed him "Buster". Buster was soon moved out of a cage and into his own pen. With room to run, and a prominent spot in the shelter, Buster began to mellow. He became a favorite of the regular volunteers and visitors. With all the attention, Buster began to respond to his name, and to seek attention. Volunteers brought him gifts - toys, treats, soft towels - anything to bring him a little joy, but still he did not want to be touched. He would buck and growl and grunt his displeasure. You could put your hand near him if a treat was being offered, but he would then grab the treat and run to the back of the pen to devour it.
Because Buster was evidence in the abuse case, he could not be neutered until the case was settled. When the case finally settled, we wasted no time in scheduling his surgery. This surgery is the first step toward adoption for a rescued bunny.
It eventually became clear that Buster either had more sight than we thought, or had a keen sense of direction, because during playtime he could always find his way through the shelter rooms to the pen with the most girl bunnies. There he would lounge for hours, flirting with abandon. We decided that the next step to happiness for Buster was marriage.
Although a lot of the very young girl-bunnies liked to flirt with Buster (and vice versa!), we chose Olivia, a strong, mature bunny, to be his bride. Olivia is a beautiful, shy black bunny who loves and nurtures Buster, and is content to be in his shadow. Not surprisingly, Olivia's kindness has made Buster feel more secure, and less aggressive. Marriage has also made him a little more domesticated, which means he now uses his litter box like a little gentleman!
We have seen Buster flourish, his coat get plusher and prettier, and his attitude settle just a little. Buster's new outlook on life is proof of the power of compassion, and his change in attitude because of Olivia is proof, lest we forget, of the power of love.
Tucker - or more precisely several of her rabbits - shared center stage with the likes of the Energizer Bunny and what the Los Angeles Zoo's relentlessly punny public relations staff billed as other "egg-citing egg-tivities" at the annual "egg-stravaganza" dubbed "Big Bunny's Spring Fling."
The event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Sunday, attracts thousands of youngsters to Griffith Park each Easter weekend.
Periodically, a small, tentative hand reached out to gently stroke the soft fur of the rabbit sitting placidly on Tucker's lap.
"Look at these furry feet," cooed former Redondo Beach resident Teri Milio, as she guided the hand of her 20-month-old daughter down the rabbit's back. "You'd think rabbits would be the luckiest animals in the world when they have feet like this."
Tucker, president of rabbit rescue group PetSave Foundation, knows that's not the case. "If I convince one person to get their rabbit fixed or if I get one adoption or I convince one person not to buy an Easter bunny it's worth it," she said of her weekend at the zoo.
For Tucker, rabbit education is a lot like rabbit reproduction - a seemingly never-ending task.
The rabbit on Tucker's lap was one of about 450 she and her rabbit rescue group helped liberate a year ago from a Mar Vista home where they were kept in squalid conditions by 50-year-old Linda Latshaw.
Latshaw pleaded guilty to misdemeanor animal neglect and was sentenced to three years probation, 100 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine payable to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which seized the animals.
The PetSave Foundation (which received $500 for its ongoing role in caring for the critters) has found homes for 170 of the rabbits. And Tucker's group has just 244 of the rabbits remaining thankfully neutered or spayed now - that must be adopted.
But Easter brings new challenges - in the form of new rabbits.
"Two to three months prior to Easter we get all the dumps," Tucker said. "I hope to God people aren't releasing last year's bunny in anticipation of buying a baby. It's a very disturbing trend."
Tucker estimates she is offered at least one rabbit a day by someone who claims they can no longer care for it. She usually declines the offer. After all, Tucker ran afoul of Torrance's municipal code last year when someone told code enforcement officers Tucker was breaking the law by keeping about 75 rabbits at her home. She was - including rabbits from city-owned Madrona Marsh, where staff would call her to rescue unwanted rabbits dumped there.
Fortunately, understanding city officials awarded Tucker a special temporary permit to keep up to 80 rabbits (she's now down to 40).
Not surprisingly, Tucker has little patience for those she views as trying to evade responsibility for a life, even if it is a rabbit's.
During the past five years as a rabbit rescuer, she reckons she has dealt with about 700 bunnies.
Among the people she has to educate are supposed educators, who often keep rabbits in their classroom.
"I get phone calls from teachers who say the mother (rabbit) gave birth and she won't feed the babies," said an exasperated Tucker. "Well, they're not going to nurse when there's a bunch of carnivores watching. And when they ask me 'What am I doing wrong?' I say 'breeding them in the first place.'"
Then there was the teacher who kept a rabbit in a classroom, left it there over the weekend even though the airconditioning invariably shut off and was surprised to come in one Monday morning to find a deceased bunny.
Which is why this Easter weekend, while parents and children are enjoying warm fuzzy feelings from warm fuzzy bunnies, Tucker will tuck in a quick sermon about responsible pet ownership - or hand those who are receptive an educational brochure.
Zoo officials help out, reminding visitors that getting a bunny for Easter is not a passing seasonal fancy - it's a commitment of several years.
So Tucker welcomes the likes of Ginger Tang of Glendale, her 6-year-old daughter Brianna and 3-year-old son Jacob. Tang said she has had three litter-trained bunnies as pets over the years; now her daughter wants one. Tucker quickly hands her a brochure.
"I knew you can get cats and dogs and stuff like that at shelters, but I didn't know you could get bunnies," exclaims Tang.
